Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Michigan State
10/18/2025 7:30:00 PM | Football
Curt Cignetti | Indiana Head Coach
Opening Statement…
CC: Good win coming off that big road win last week. We all are aware of the potential issues you're dealing with there, and I thought the team and the staff did a good job really focusing in on this next opponent and the challenge that it could present.
I thought Michigan State played really hard, and offensively they've got some weapons. Our offense was sharp. We were throwing the football. Fernando (Mendoza) was on point. Protection was good. Receivers were separating, making plays.
The defense held them to a field goal there at the end of the second quarter, drive before the two-minute drive. Stopped them on the two-minute drive, and then we punched that first drive in in the third quarter, which I felt like if we did that, that would be a real blow to them.
The defense really shut them out until the end where we kind of emptied the bench a little bit, so to speak, but it's a good win. Enjoy it. We're going to enjoy it and get ready for the next one.
On redshirt junior Fernando Mendoza's performance and progression…
CC: Well, I think it was a really good performance by him. Michigan State has given up some points this year. Let's face it. He had time, and our guys were separating, and he was throwing the ball on rhythm.
There (are) other games like Oregon you don't have nearly as much time, and you're not always separating as much. So, it's all relative sometimes.
But I would say this is the sharpest we've seen him up to this point in a game. But he continues to improve. He continues to prepare like nobody I've ever been around, and he's getting better and better.
On having so many offensive weapons…
CC: Well, you can kind of focus in on one guy, but it's hard to focus in on two because if you're three by one, that guy might be number three, number two, number one on the field or into the bench. So, you can focus in on one guy, but it's really difficult to focus in on two.
But there's other guys that make plays, like Riley Nowakowski. How many big plays has he made in the pass game? And E.J. Williams obviously is a threat.
[…] Charlie Becker has made plays. Hemby has made some big plays in the pass game. Then you've got to deal with Fernando's feet if he works up into the pocket.
So you can't really focus on one guy.
On Mendoza's 21-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio…
CC: Well, I think he's done a good job. He's smart. He understands how to play quarterback. Before you win any game, you've got to make sure you don't lose it, right? He protects the ball. He checks it down when it's not there. He knows when he can take a sack, when he can't take a sack, and he's accurate, and he's making good reads.
You know, that only puts him a little bit behind Cole Johnson, my second quarterback at JMU who I think was 44 and 4 touchdowns-interceptions, which would be 22 and 2. You said 21 and 2? But he keeps building, I think, on his previous performances, and I can't say enough about things about him.
On defensive adjustments…
CC: I thought near the end of the second quarter we really tightened up, and then in the second half, except for that last drive, and started putting pressure on the quarterback.
I've always thought they've got good design at Michigan State offensively. They can protect with eight, seven, six, five. Out-of-pocket game, good screen game, great play action game, and the quarterback is extremely talented, and so is No. 6.
I'm sure our defense will put the tape on tomorrow, and they'll be displeased with some things early in the game.
On redshirt senior defensive back Louis Moore…
CC: Yeah, [he's] played a lot of football, leading tackler, interceptions. Left us, came back. He's a veteran, got a nose for the ball, instinct, and I think he's having fun.
On Mendoza's preparation…
CC: I think it's time, organization and smart use of time, proper preparation, smart use of time. He wants to be a great player. I've never seen anybody really quite jump into it like that before.
On when team had right mindset this week…
CC: I think it was starting to flip a little bit Thursday after practice. I sent them a good message. I thought it was flipping our way Friday.
Look, you can't be a real nice guy when you have a job like mine. You know what I mean? Sometimes you know when they're going to be ready to play, and then sometimes you know the entire organization – what did Mike Krzyzewski say when he retired? He said, toughest opponent he's ever faced was human nature.
Well, human nature after winning against Oregon is to be happy and relaxed, support staff, coaches, players, trainers. My job is to make sure they've got the right mindset ready to play. It's not always fun, but you've got to do what you've got to do.
On weather delay…
CC: I thought we handled it really well, and the staff had experience with it at Virginia when I was at JMU my last year. We were down 10 with eight minutes to go and that happened. We ended up utilizing it, I thought, really well and came back and won the game.
On defense "outlasting" opponents…
CC: I think, first of all, they're well-coached and they attack people and we've got a lot of veteran players, and we've got great leadership, and we've got good players, and the leaders are really good players. We've had young guys sort of develop for us. Look up front inside and look at Isaiah Jones' development at linebacker and Hardy, besides Fisher.
I think the secondary is really -- outside of Ponds, who's an All-American, you've seen Sharpe really step up and start to make plays and the safeties, too. There's a lot of pride there, and we've got to get better from this last game because the challenges are going to get tougher down the road.
Indiana Student-Athletes
Elijah Sarratt / WR / Sr.
On what gave the team confidence this week…
ES: Towards the end of the week, when we were wrapping up the game plan. You have a good feeling about how the team is going. I think we handled the winning at Oregon well, and then we had a good week at practice. By like Thursday, we were pretty locked in.
On Coach Cignetti's message to team…
ES: Just stay focused, keep the main thing the main thing, preaching the main stuff he always does. Just not to look ahead at this game. This game was important, and next week is just as important as the previous week.
On connection with reshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza…
ES: I feel like it grows every single day at practice. Just the reps we continue to get, the more our chemistry continues to get better, and I'm looking forward to (continuing) to get better at it.
On Mendoza's preparation during the week…
ES: He lives in this facility for real. Anytime I'm in here, he's in here. He's in here more than me, staying after hours [and] watching film. After practice, he has a practice script going over plays (on the field). So, he puts his time in for sure.
Aiden Fisher / LB / Sr.
On message to defense…
AF: When you have an aggressive defense that likes to blitz a lot [...] the answer is to screen them. We knew that going into this game. They did a great job at disguising it. I think the times we kind of lost our discipline with our eyes […] things like that. [It] definitely could have been a lot better. I think the second half we cleaned it up a lot better than it was the first half. They did a great job screening us the first half.
On weather delay concerns…
AF: I've played in one of these before with Coach Cignetti. I'm pretty sure it was like an hour. It definitely could have been worse today. It's a weird break where you want to just take your mind completely off football. You know just so when you come back in you're still sharp, still fresh, you're not kind of exhausted just thinking about football the entire break. But, thankfully today wasn't that long, and it was just an extra thirty minutes.
On what sets Fernando Mendoza apart…
AF: He's just so smart. He can read a defense like the back of his hand. The way he's able to get the ball out quick, know where to go with the ball. He's really good at reading defensive shells, even when it's a disguise. He's just really good, and his preparation sets him apart from everybody else in the country. He's just phenomenal in the way he approaches the game and the details he puts into it.
Omar Cooper Jr. / WR / Jr..
On offensive efficiency opening the game…
OC: I just feel like we had a great game plan going into the game. We knew they were going to play a lot of Cover 4, Cover 8, and Cover 1, so we found a lot of plays this week that would attack that, and we executed perfectly when it came to that.
On Heisman chants…
OC: I feel like, honestly, don't ever tell him I said this because he hates hearing stuff, but I feel like we got the best quarterback in college football. So, I'm grateful to have him on our team. Just seeing the progression that he's been making each and every week has been amazing. I'm just happy for him and want to see him keep working.
On receiver trio of Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt, and E.J. Williams Jr.…
OC: It's very dangerous. A lot of people sleep on E.J. because of (Elijah and me), but E.J. is a really good player, and he was able to show you that today. I feel like the second touchdown he was in, but just the fact that it's three of us allows us to go out there and play more free, knowing that you can't just double-team one person because we got more weapons than you can hold.
Fernando Mendoza. / QB / Jr.
On how receiving core makes him better…
FM: We have such a special core on our offense with a receiving core, Sarratt, Cooper, Williams, all of our tight ends and just everybody else. Our offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends and even other quarterbacks. Coupled with the gameplanning of Coach Cignetti, Coach (Mike) Shannahan, and Coach (Chandler) Whitmer, it really has a perfect marriage, and we're seeing the results on the field right now.
On diversity of offensive weapons…
FM: I think that it really just shows the multiplicity of our offense and how we're able to gameplan and how we're able to attack the defense. We're not just a one-way street. 'Hey, we can only do RPOs, hey, we can only do drop-back passes, hey, you can only run.' With those receivers, we can do so many different things on our offense, which allows us to be very successful.
On Heisman chants and student section…
FM: I did hear [heisman chants] on the field. First of all, I want to give a shoutout to the student section actually sticking through the rain and the shirtless towel-waving. I want to give a shoutout to them because that was fantastic to see them. All the players on the sideline were hyped about it. It got myself juiced, it got the offense juiced, and it got the team juiced. So quick shoutout to the student section for waving the towels in the rain. What a great sight to see, and we do have a lot of season left, and right now I'm just focused on UCLA. We have so many great players on our team, and I think that we play even better when we play as one. Whatever spotlight that I might get from the offense's success, I'm just trying to dish it out to all my teammates because they really deserve it, and they're the unsung heroes.
Jonathan Smith | Michigan State Head Coach
Opening Statement
JS: Let me start with congrats to the Indiana football team. They beat us today. Going into the game, especially in the first half, [we] wanted to put longer drives together, possess the ball, and there was a lot that. We were able to execute that, besides just being able to flat out match touchdown scores. In the first drive, [it] took a while. [We score] Three points, they answered with seven. Took another one to take the lead back. But then at the end of the half, you know, got away from us a little bit on the two minute drive where they punched the thing in and go up 21-10 at halftime. [...] We got to be able to finish on the offensive end, to just be matching scores. And then obviously, trying to get a stop didn't take place soon enough. You know, early in the third quarter, a couple deep balls on younger corners. Aydan West can be a really good player here, that kind of thing. But then it got away from us in the fourth, and that's a good football team. [The] Margin for error against a good football team is pretty small. You look at the tackling, we got to tackle better, [there were a] couple opportunities to have better plays there, and we just did not have it today.
On junior quarterback Aidan Chiles' progression…
JS: You know, there's some progress again. You know, we felt like, actually, our red zone offense has been healthy the first six games. Love to score some more touchdowns. I thought Aidan was accurate for the most part. I did think some of the underneath passing game was helpful in that pass rush and all that, but the run game, that's a good defensive front.
On progress versus results …
JS: We're always looking to win the game, 100 percent, and so that hasn't lost our sight in any way. I mean, this is a good football team and all of that, but we want to be able to play winning football and haven't done it the last few weeks.
Michigan State Student-Athletes
Aidan Chiles / QB / Jr.
On the performance today…
AC: I am genuinely proud of this team and how we competed. [I'm] not proud of how we executed and finished the game, but at the end of the day, we came out and played as hard as we could. It didn't work out for us. I'm not satisfied, but I'm appreciative of how we played.
On his performance today…
AC: The offense played well. We didn't execute as well as we should have. We didn't finish in the red zone. We didn't finish drives, but at the end of the day I think we played great.
On staying positive despite recent results…
AC: You approach every week the same. Approach every week the same. You come back and do the same things you did last week and prepare how you prepared last week. You practice and talk about what you need to fix and go [into practice] and fix it. It's the same thing every week. It just didn't go our way this week.
Alex VanSumeren / DL / R-Jr.
On performance…
AV: No matter when we are out there, we are going to play hard. That's the price of admission just to get through the doors. We did some good things out there. We have some things we still need to clean up. We will be back and watch the tape, correct it, and get back to it.
On using weather delay…
AV: We got with our coaches and broke down the tape. They gave us the adjustments and watched to see areas where we could be better, and see what [Indiana] was doing. We listened to [the coaches] and what they had to say to us.
On Indiana offense…
AV: [Indiana is] a really good team. They're a good offense. They have a wood quarterback [Fernando Mendoza]. We knew what we were getting in to. This is the Big Ten. This is what we came here to do and to play these types of games and these types of teams. It's not like we were physically out-matched, it was some things that we need to clean up at different positions. We will get it right. There were some good things we did out there, but at the end of the day we didn't win. We will get it fixed, go back to the drawing board and be back out there next Saturday.
Opening Statement…
CC: Good win coming off that big road win last week. We all are aware of the potential issues you're dealing with there, and I thought the team and the staff did a good job really focusing in on this next opponent and the challenge that it could present.
I thought Michigan State played really hard, and offensively they've got some weapons. Our offense was sharp. We were throwing the football. Fernando (Mendoza) was on point. Protection was good. Receivers were separating, making plays.
The defense held them to a field goal there at the end of the second quarter, drive before the two-minute drive. Stopped them on the two-minute drive, and then we punched that first drive in in the third quarter, which I felt like if we did that, that would be a real blow to them.
The defense really shut them out until the end where we kind of emptied the bench a little bit, so to speak, but it's a good win. Enjoy it. We're going to enjoy it and get ready for the next one.
On redshirt junior Fernando Mendoza's performance and progression…
CC: Well, I think it was a really good performance by him. Michigan State has given up some points this year. Let's face it. He had time, and our guys were separating, and he was throwing the ball on rhythm.
There (are) other games like Oregon you don't have nearly as much time, and you're not always separating as much. So, it's all relative sometimes.
But I would say this is the sharpest we've seen him up to this point in a game. But he continues to improve. He continues to prepare like nobody I've ever been around, and he's getting better and better.
On having so many offensive weapons…
CC: Well, you can kind of focus in on one guy, but it's hard to focus in on two because if you're three by one, that guy might be number three, number two, number one on the field or into the bench. So, you can focus in on one guy, but it's really difficult to focus in on two.
But there's other guys that make plays, like Riley Nowakowski. How many big plays has he made in the pass game? And E.J. Williams obviously is a threat.
[…] Charlie Becker has made plays. Hemby has made some big plays in the pass game. Then you've got to deal with Fernando's feet if he works up into the pocket.
So you can't really focus on one guy.
On Mendoza's 21-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio…
CC: Well, I think he's done a good job. He's smart. He understands how to play quarterback. Before you win any game, you've got to make sure you don't lose it, right? He protects the ball. He checks it down when it's not there. He knows when he can take a sack, when he can't take a sack, and he's accurate, and he's making good reads.
You know, that only puts him a little bit behind Cole Johnson, my second quarterback at JMU who I think was 44 and 4 touchdowns-interceptions, which would be 22 and 2. You said 21 and 2? But he keeps building, I think, on his previous performances, and I can't say enough about things about him.
On defensive adjustments…
CC: I thought near the end of the second quarter we really tightened up, and then in the second half, except for that last drive, and started putting pressure on the quarterback.
I've always thought they've got good design at Michigan State offensively. They can protect with eight, seven, six, five. Out-of-pocket game, good screen game, great play action game, and the quarterback is extremely talented, and so is No. 6.
I'm sure our defense will put the tape on tomorrow, and they'll be displeased with some things early in the game.
On redshirt senior defensive back Louis Moore…
CC: Yeah, [he's] played a lot of football, leading tackler, interceptions. Left us, came back. He's a veteran, got a nose for the ball, instinct, and I think he's having fun.
On Mendoza's preparation…
CC: I think it's time, organization and smart use of time, proper preparation, smart use of time. He wants to be a great player. I've never seen anybody really quite jump into it like that before.
On when team had right mindset this week…
CC: I think it was starting to flip a little bit Thursday after practice. I sent them a good message. I thought it was flipping our way Friday.
Look, you can't be a real nice guy when you have a job like mine. You know what I mean? Sometimes you know when they're going to be ready to play, and then sometimes you know the entire organization – what did Mike Krzyzewski say when he retired? He said, toughest opponent he's ever faced was human nature.
Well, human nature after winning against Oregon is to be happy and relaxed, support staff, coaches, players, trainers. My job is to make sure they've got the right mindset ready to play. It's not always fun, but you've got to do what you've got to do.
On weather delay…
CC: I thought we handled it really well, and the staff had experience with it at Virginia when I was at JMU my last year. We were down 10 with eight minutes to go and that happened. We ended up utilizing it, I thought, really well and came back and won the game.
On defense "outlasting" opponents…
CC: I think, first of all, they're well-coached and they attack people and we've got a lot of veteran players, and we've got great leadership, and we've got good players, and the leaders are really good players. We've had young guys sort of develop for us. Look up front inside and look at Isaiah Jones' development at linebacker and Hardy, besides Fisher.
I think the secondary is really -- outside of Ponds, who's an All-American, you've seen Sharpe really step up and start to make plays and the safeties, too. There's a lot of pride there, and we've got to get better from this last game because the challenges are going to get tougher down the road.
Indiana Student-Athletes
Elijah Sarratt / WR / Sr.
On what gave the team confidence this week…
ES: Towards the end of the week, when we were wrapping up the game plan. You have a good feeling about how the team is going. I think we handled the winning at Oregon well, and then we had a good week at practice. By like Thursday, we were pretty locked in.
On Coach Cignetti's message to team…
ES: Just stay focused, keep the main thing the main thing, preaching the main stuff he always does. Just not to look ahead at this game. This game was important, and next week is just as important as the previous week.
On connection with reshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza…
ES: I feel like it grows every single day at practice. Just the reps we continue to get, the more our chemistry continues to get better, and I'm looking forward to (continuing) to get better at it.
On Mendoza's preparation during the week…
ES: He lives in this facility for real. Anytime I'm in here, he's in here. He's in here more than me, staying after hours [and] watching film. After practice, he has a practice script going over plays (on the field). So, he puts his time in for sure.
Aiden Fisher / LB / Sr.
On message to defense…
AF: When you have an aggressive defense that likes to blitz a lot [...] the answer is to screen them. We knew that going into this game. They did a great job at disguising it. I think the times we kind of lost our discipline with our eyes […] things like that. [It] definitely could have been a lot better. I think the second half we cleaned it up a lot better than it was the first half. They did a great job screening us the first half.
On weather delay concerns…
AF: I've played in one of these before with Coach Cignetti. I'm pretty sure it was like an hour. It definitely could have been worse today. It's a weird break where you want to just take your mind completely off football. You know just so when you come back in you're still sharp, still fresh, you're not kind of exhausted just thinking about football the entire break. But, thankfully today wasn't that long, and it was just an extra thirty minutes.
On what sets Fernando Mendoza apart…
AF: He's just so smart. He can read a defense like the back of his hand. The way he's able to get the ball out quick, know where to go with the ball. He's really good at reading defensive shells, even when it's a disguise. He's just really good, and his preparation sets him apart from everybody else in the country. He's just phenomenal in the way he approaches the game and the details he puts into it.
Omar Cooper Jr. / WR / Jr..
On offensive efficiency opening the game…
OC: I just feel like we had a great game plan going into the game. We knew they were going to play a lot of Cover 4, Cover 8, and Cover 1, so we found a lot of plays this week that would attack that, and we executed perfectly when it came to that.
On Heisman chants…
OC: I feel like, honestly, don't ever tell him I said this because he hates hearing stuff, but I feel like we got the best quarterback in college football. So, I'm grateful to have him on our team. Just seeing the progression that he's been making each and every week has been amazing. I'm just happy for him and want to see him keep working.
On receiver trio of Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt, and E.J. Williams Jr.…
OC: It's very dangerous. A lot of people sleep on E.J. because of (Elijah and me), but E.J. is a really good player, and he was able to show you that today. I feel like the second touchdown he was in, but just the fact that it's three of us allows us to go out there and play more free, knowing that you can't just double-team one person because we got more weapons than you can hold.
Fernando Mendoza. / QB / Jr.
On how receiving core makes him better…
FM: We have such a special core on our offense with a receiving core, Sarratt, Cooper, Williams, all of our tight ends and just everybody else. Our offensive linemen, running backs, tight ends and even other quarterbacks. Coupled with the gameplanning of Coach Cignetti, Coach (Mike) Shannahan, and Coach (Chandler) Whitmer, it really has a perfect marriage, and we're seeing the results on the field right now.
On diversity of offensive weapons…
FM: I think that it really just shows the multiplicity of our offense and how we're able to gameplan and how we're able to attack the defense. We're not just a one-way street. 'Hey, we can only do RPOs, hey, we can only do drop-back passes, hey, you can only run.' With those receivers, we can do so many different things on our offense, which allows us to be very successful.
On Heisman chants and student section…
FM: I did hear [heisman chants] on the field. First of all, I want to give a shoutout to the student section actually sticking through the rain and the shirtless towel-waving. I want to give a shoutout to them because that was fantastic to see them. All the players on the sideline were hyped about it. It got myself juiced, it got the offense juiced, and it got the team juiced. So quick shoutout to the student section for waving the towels in the rain. What a great sight to see, and we do have a lot of season left, and right now I'm just focused on UCLA. We have so many great players on our team, and I think that we play even better when we play as one. Whatever spotlight that I might get from the offense's success, I'm just trying to dish it out to all my teammates because they really deserve it, and they're the unsung heroes.
Jonathan Smith | Michigan State Head Coach
Opening Statement
JS: Let me start with congrats to the Indiana football team. They beat us today. Going into the game, especially in the first half, [we] wanted to put longer drives together, possess the ball, and there was a lot that. We were able to execute that, besides just being able to flat out match touchdown scores. In the first drive, [it] took a while. [We score] Three points, they answered with seven. Took another one to take the lead back. But then at the end of the half, you know, got away from us a little bit on the two minute drive where they punched the thing in and go up 21-10 at halftime. [...] We got to be able to finish on the offensive end, to just be matching scores. And then obviously, trying to get a stop didn't take place soon enough. You know, early in the third quarter, a couple deep balls on younger corners. Aydan West can be a really good player here, that kind of thing. But then it got away from us in the fourth, and that's a good football team. [The] Margin for error against a good football team is pretty small. You look at the tackling, we got to tackle better, [there were a] couple opportunities to have better plays there, and we just did not have it today.
On junior quarterback Aidan Chiles' progression…
JS: You know, there's some progress again. You know, we felt like, actually, our red zone offense has been healthy the first six games. Love to score some more touchdowns. I thought Aidan was accurate for the most part. I did think some of the underneath passing game was helpful in that pass rush and all that, but the run game, that's a good defensive front.
On progress versus results …
JS: We're always looking to win the game, 100 percent, and so that hasn't lost our sight in any way. I mean, this is a good football team and all of that, but we want to be able to play winning football and haven't done it the last few weeks.
Michigan State Student-Athletes
Aidan Chiles / QB / Jr.
On the performance today…
AC: I am genuinely proud of this team and how we competed. [I'm] not proud of how we executed and finished the game, but at the end of the day, we came out and played as hard as we could. It didn't work out for us. I'm not satisfied, but I'm appreciative of how we played.
On his performance today…
AC: The offense played well. We didn't execute as well as we should have. We didn't finish in the red zone. We didn't finish drives, but at the end of the day I think we played great.
On staying positive despite recent results…
AC: You approach every week the same. Approach every week the same. You come back and do the same things you did last week and prepare how you prepared last week. You practice and talk about what you need to fix and go [into practice] and fix it. It's the same thing every week. It just didn't go our way this week.
Alex VanSumeren / DL / R-Jr.
On performance…
AV: No matter when we are out there, we are going to play hard. That's the price of admission just to get through the doors. We did some good things out there. We have some things we still need to clean up. We will be back and watch the tape, correct it, and get back to it.
On using weather delay…
AV: We got with our coaches and broke down the tape. They gave us the adjustments and watched to see areas where we could be better, and see what [Indiana] was doing. We listened to [the coaches] and what they had to say to us.
On Indiana offense…
AV: [Indiana is] a really good team. They're a good offense. They have a wood quarterback [Fernando Mendoza]. We knew what we were getting in to. This is the Big Ten. This is what we came here to do and to play these types of games and these types of teams. It's not like we were physically out-matched, it was some things that we need to clean up at different positions. We will get it right. There were some good things we did out there, but at the end of the day we didn't win. We will get it fixed, go back to the drawing board and be back out there next Saturday.
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballFB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (10/20/25)
Monday, October 20
FB: Elijah Sarratt - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18
FB: Fernando Mendoza - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18
FB: Omar Cooper Jr. - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18